Being part of a positive and team-oriented culture will bring success to your team.  There are five habits that any leader should utilize to achieve success in your team.

First, always ask “What will I do today to add value to the team?”  Whether it is a conceptual concept like building trust within the team or the physical reduction of costs to relieve team stress, adding value to your team ensures that you are constantly improving as a unit.

Next, reflect on your actions.  Take the time to remember what needs to be accomplished and to ensure that every step is being taken to complete the task.  If your team does not have the resources in order to complete the task, you need to find the third party resources that can accomplish your end goal.

Third, be organized.  Often, offices don’t understand where their inefficiencies are coming from because they are not organized. Make sure you are checking in on your records to understand how you keep track of your expenses and costs.

Practice personal and professional development.  This will keep you and your team moving forward.  Always assume you do not know enough and there is always an expert, internal or external, that can improve your team.

Finally, work outside of your comfort zone.  As you continue to work outside of your comfort zone, your boundaries will continue to broaden.  This will keep you and your team striving forward.  Explore new ways to save, work, and communicate in order to drive your business forward. These habits will encourage your team to positively impact every area of your business.

By Todd Larsen – CEO,  Limitless Technology ~ Cost Reduction Specialists

So, it’s the end of the year…

Not  a bad one. Business has improved, interest rates have remained low, the market has done extremely well, and the economy is slowly recovering. Goods things all in all and you can feel a certain change coming. 

And then you look at your P&L. Does it reflect this years tide? Does the bottom line look as good as it could have or should have? Was there any more that could have been done? Could more have been sold, expenses reduced, delivery made more efficient or products manufactured for less cost? Questions that have been most likely bouncing around in your mind since beginning budget planning for 2014.

Ok…so questions arise to help ensure profits next year soar. Right? Planned for everything, up turn, downturn, right purchased, right trend, right color, right size, right service model, right price….everything. No doubts, no concerns, no worries. Right?

Hmmm…most likely the perfect scenario but, not the most probable one. If you are like the majority of owners and executive leaders, you worry if all the plans are correct and will be executed in a way that ensures the most profitable growth. 

So is there is one thing you can do to ensure higher profits? The answer is yes, lower costs! I am not advocating lowering service quality, or purchasing inferior goods; I am a proponent of lowering the costs of what you already are buying. Sounds simple. Just pick up the phone, call your vendors, and tell them you want the lowest price for the  best product and service. Done. You call, they jump, bring you better products, lower prices and instantaneously you improve profits.  

Unfortunately most likely not, but it’s not for lack or trying. However, do you know how to negotiate the best offering for a particular product or service? Are there questions in your mind like…

– Where do you start? 

– What’s reasonable? 

– What’s good? 

– What price is right?

– What terms are best? 

– Am I protected against business trends? 

– Are my contracts flexible?

Quite honestly there an endless stream of questions and doubts. Ok…so how can I get all the questions answered, and moreover, improve my vendor positioning while improving my price points, flexibility and profitability? The answer is easy, but it’s not. Sorry to be ambiguous but that is the truth. In order to have the best positioning and pricing you will most likely need to look for a resource outside your company which has the skills, knowledge and experience to help you gain this positioning. Ok…now the tough question. Who do you trust? I believe when you can answer that question, you are on your way to having your problem resolved. First lets look at some points you should inspect when selecting a “trusted advisor”.

– Does the firm have inside industry experience?

– Do they have several written testimonials from other companies in your industry?

– Will they quickly provide a list of references?

– Can they show you a proven process to ensure success?

– Do they offer a money back guarantee? 

When you find that trusted resource, which can provide the above answers and position you best with your vendor, the questions will go away and peace of mind will take their place. You will allow them the opportunity to help lower your costs and provide the bottom line results your were looking for at the end of this year, last year and the year before. And this way when you look at next years P&L, you’ll know you could not have done anything more in those areas to be more profitable. 

Now… it’s an end of the year.

www.limitlesstechnology.com

The use of the word “Expert” in our day and age has saturated the business market. Every business you go into, there is someone that says they are an expert in insurance, taxes, and every other industry you can imagine.

What is An Expert?

The literal definition of an expert is someone that has dedicated 10,000 hours of education to their skill or trade, and has achieved a master level status at their trade by their peers or customers. For example, if a violinist has practiced for 10,000 hours, they still may not be very good. The violinist can only be considered an expert if they are deemed one by their peers after 10,000 hours of practice.

Why Do Businesses Need Experts if They Have Employees for Those Functions?

Okay good, now you know the definition of an expert, but why would a business need one? Well let’s go back to the violinist metaphor. Your business has a need for a business solution like an audience has a need to hear beautiful music from an orchestra. Now maybe someone in the audience knows how to play the violin, and maybe the audience member can even play very well. However, anyone who has ever gone to hear an amateur violin concert, and then the symphony, knows there is a big difference between a good amateur and an expert violinist.

That is exactly why businesses hire experts. They have a need that their company may be filling now with a non-expert inside resource; however their needs now exceed that resource’s level of knowledge.  Experts do the business functions that the businesses’ inside resource performs, but does it faster, more effectively, and efficiently. This overall increase in capability usually ends up saving companies money in the long run, because the increase in efficiency usually surpasses the increase in pay you must give to an expert.

How to Find An Expert?

“I can just go on the internet and type in expert in _________ right?” Unfortunately, the internet has many websites that say they are experts with no proof. You will have to do a little research and look at the companies they have worked for as well as if those companies have given the company positive referrals and contact information that allows you to get in touch with those companies to get their confirmation of their referral. This may take an extra hour or two of research but it will benefit your business in the long run.

So, who wants to fill their own stocking with coal? Unless you own a struggling coal company the answer is no one. Well, you are “filling your company’s stocking with coal” every time you pay more than you have to on the company’s telecom bills.

You may ask “when do I overpay?” The answer is, every time you write a check to the telecom company. Companies like yours spend thousands and even hundreds of thousands more than they need to on their phone lines. With the hundreds of telecom errors that occur, it would be easy to slip by almost any IT, Finance or Operations person alike.

We know you have professional IT personnel for the technical things in the business, but how often does your IT department get together with your financial branch to review the billing? Probably not often…Right? This is because both groups don’t prefer to get into each other’s domain. The IT department knows all about the technology, and work off the budget they are given based on their requests. The finance department knows all about reducing spending, but doesn’t know the technology well enough to know what to identify on the bills. That’s where we come in.

We are both fluent and skilled in the IT and Financial areas of a business. We will find the best telecom plan for your business that will save you the most money while not compromising the integrity of your IT department. Think of us as your holiday Past, Present, and Future. We look into your past, reduce your telecom spend in the present, and make your company even stronger in the future.

See The Holidays for your company in a New Light, Call (866) 504 4050 or go to www.limitlesstechnology.com

Do you remember when making a difference meant everything to you in your job, career, business? No…not just going through the motions because you are experienced and feel you can predict what would happen prior to it occurring. A time when you were concerned with every line item of profitability. Do you remember those days?

Were those days recent? Were they so long ago it’s hard to remember? Ever wish it was that way again? Did you ever feel back then, that you operated as if you had nothing to lose? Yet, every penny was precious no matter what the risk?Why does a “nothing to lose” state of mind work? Well, the answer is because it’s only when we’ve lost something that we can truly gain something better.

Excepting Complacency.

Have you ever said, “that just the way it is”, or “there’s nothing we can do about it”? Have you ever wondered why your people haven’t found the things you feel aren’t right about your operations or what could be improved?

Bigger question is…” If you could do something about it….would you?” Would you seek outside assistance? Would you look for a better way?

And if you did…would you feel you are doing an disservice or stepping on the toes of those in your company who you feel did not meet their responsibility of seeking workplace improvements?  You think they “should be doing” , or that “you hope they are doing” something (like you did when you cared about every penny and every nickel of profitability).

Goodbye Illusion: Hello Truth

What about the truth? Can you…or do you want to “handle the truth”? And do you feel something or someone wiser than your team could assist you in working “behind-the-scenes” to unveil your illusions and therefore help you improve? It may seem jarring to you, but really, it is quite gentle (gentler than you can ever imagine). So are we fearing the truth?

Or do you feel the crumbling of the illusion of your company’s efficiency will cause you too much pain? At LT~CRS we believe the truth never hurts. The truth only heals. In human nature, we are prone to want to hold on to things, but once there is nothing to hold on to, we can’t help but realize that the only thing we can truly hold on to is the truth. That’s why we hope you believe that somewhere in the Losing, there is a much greater Gaining.

So the question is, would you rather face the pain of breaking illusions and in the long receive amazing gains, or stay in the illusions and in the long run suffer?

www.limitlesstechnology.com

Using a contingency based~no risk model,  we specialize in reducing companies

telecom and technology monthly recurring expenses by removing inaccuracies, 

obtaining credits and negotiating better go forward contract rates.

BOTTOM LINE…We Improve BOTTOM LINES.